March 4, 2000 (by Lieven Dewitte) -
The United Arab Emirates have signed an agreement to buy 80 F-16 fighters and related equipment worth a total of $6.4 billion from Lockheed Martin Corp.
Company and U. A. E. officials announced the deal Sunday at the Tridex 2000 Defense Exhibition.
The contract had been under negotiation since May 1998 and was postponed several times. Last year, the Emirates threatened to pull out if the jets were not equipped with technology Washington considered too advanced. More recently, financial issues arose.
The 80 jets are to be built in Fort Worth, Texas by Lockheed Martin. They would have agile-beam radar systems, radar-jamming devices and computerized flight controls that are more sophisticated than similar equipment now on board America's F-16s.
The Integrated Electronic Warfare System on the jets will be supplied by Northrop Grumman. An engine supplier has not been selected. Pratt & Whitney and General Electric both manufacture engines for the F-16.
The 80 aircraft will be delivered from 2004 through 2007.
The deal with the Emirates, an oil-rich Gulf nation, was brokered by the State Department through a direct commercial sale license which must be approved by Congress.
The sale requires U.S. Congressional approval.
